


First Kiss Christmas

by Tastethatcake



Series: Free! Holiday Collection [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Shorts, christmas collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-01
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-03 04:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1065680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tastethatcake/pseuds/Tastethatcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first part of my Free! holiday collection. This one features Rei and Nagisa trying to prepare for the Iwatobi swim club Christmas party!</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Kiss Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I don't use honorifics, so be prepared for that.

It was the day before Christmas and Nagisa was preparing. He had already invited the entire swim club to his party, and he hadn’t even started to prepare yet. Rei, Makoto, and Haru were all spending time with their families today (or in Haru’s case, Makoto’s family.) Makoto had offered to come over and help Nagisa with party preparations, but he insisted on doing this alone, and besides, Makoto had family business to take care of. Rei had been a little bit more insistent, though. In fact, he was texting Nagisa right now.

Rei: Come on, Nagisa, let me come over.  
Nagisa: No!!! This is my party, I have to get it together by myself!  
Rei: Don’t you need help?  
Nagisa: No, I can do this alone. Huh, they guy who always tells me I’m annoying is desperate to visit my house.  
Nagisa: Ironic, hmmm??!?!?!  
Rei: That’s not what ironic means  
Nagisa: WHO CARES?!?!?!?!?! Besides, why do you even wanna help so bad anyway  
Rei: because this is my first Christmas with you guys and I wanna help  
Nagisa: WELL TOO BAD THIS IS MY PARTY AND I SAY NO  
Rei: come onnnnn Nagisaaaaaaaa

Nagisa rolled his eyes and stuck his phone in his back pocket without replying. Geez, this guy could be so demanding sometimes! 

He now turned his attention to the box of supplies below him. Wreaths, banners, ornaments, garland, red and green streamers, and a lot more. The Christmas tree was up, too, but undecorated. He decided to leave the tree for last, as it was his favourite part of decorating. Cookies were in the oven too, spreading a delicious smell around the house. Humming a christmas tune, Nagisa began sifting through the box, throwing stuff randomly aside until he found the lights. He was interrupted by the ting sound of another arriving text.

Rei: Nagisaaaaaaaa where areeee you  
Nagisa: shush, Rei! Just wait 4 hours until the party starts  
Nagisa: there’s a blizzard going on, too! how would you even get here?  
Nagisa: your grandma can’t drive  
Rei: I’d walk!  
Nagisa: No, it’s too cold for that. just wait for Gou and Rin to pick you up!!!  
Rei: Nagisaaa I wanna help  
Nagisa: NO!!!  
Nagisa: I’m not replying anymore so shush

Nagisa put his phone away again and grabbed the lights. He had a tradition of stringing them around the house before Christmas, lighting up all the rooms. It made the house especially pretty when he turned the lights off. He skipped cheerily around the house, throwing the lights over fixtures and around furniture until they were covering every surface. He plugged them in and flipped the switch, lighting up the house in bright colours. He grinned to himself and started to grab statuettes, little porcelain santas and plastic reindeer, and spread them around the living room. He left them on every surface.

Then he moved on to garland and the wreath. Every few minutes he would receive the text notification. He didn’t even look at his phone. He knew who it would be, so he didn’t even look whenever he received a message. After covering the walls with decorations, he took a quick break to ice the cookies before getting back to it. He dreaded this next part of the decorating- the high stuff. 

Fact was, Nagisa was short. He barely reached 5’5”, and he was much shorter than all of his friends. His parents always said that his big personality made up for it. It hoped that was true.

His small stature was inconvenient a lot of the time, especially now with having to decorate the higher areas of his house. Bringing up a ladder didn’t appeal to him, but he knew he would have to. Resigned to his fate, he slumped back to the living room and looked to see what needed to be put up. The star would have to be put up at the top of the tree, but he decided to do that later when he would decorate it. Streamers could be hung up near the ceilings, as well as a long banner that said “Merry Christmas Iwatobi Swim Club (And Rin)!” Nagisa looked through the bin until his eyes landed on something beautiful.

A bunch of mistletoe.

The shenanigans that he could create with this blessed gift were many. He could force Gou and her new boyfriend (what was his name? Seijaro? Seijuro?) under the mistletoe and make them kiss. That would humiliate them! Or better yet, push under Makoto and Haru. Nagisa knew that he needed to speed their relationship along somehow. This would be the perfect opportunity.

Before grabbing the ladder, Nagisa ran past the radio and turned it on to the Christmas music channel, which was currently playing somebody’s dramatic cover of jingle bells. 

Hauling the ladder up from the basement where Nagisa’s father had last left it was not an easy task, but he eventually dragged it into the living room. He set it up where he wanted the mistletoe (right at the side of the room by the couch where an unsuspecting person could easily walk under it) and turned the box. Deciding that he would kill three birds with one stone, he grabbed the mistletoe,the banner, and an armful of streamers. He could barely see past the red and green decorations as he waddled his way to the ladder and climbed up slowly. As he ascended the first two steps of the latter he realized he might have made a mistake. With limited use of his arms and sight, it would not be easy to catch his balance if he fell. I guess I will just have to try and not to fall, then.

As he reached the top step, his cell phone buzzed again with a text. He realized that he had not actually received a text from Rei in at least twenty minutes. I guess he will have to wait, then. But Nagisa did not just receive that one text. The phone buzzed once, twice, three more times. Nagisa reached up to the ceiling with all of the streamers in one arm and the mistletoe in the other. To his frustration he still could not reach the ceiling on the ladder, so with not support what so ever, he stood on the tips of his toes and stretched his arm up. In that moment, his phone began to sing with the sound of notifications, he was getting a barrage of texts all at once. What the hell, Rei-

Before he could even finish that thought he felt the ladder wobble underneath him. “No- ah!” He spread his arms out in a desperate attempt to hold his balance and failed miserably, the ladder collapsed beneath him and he tumbled off, landing upside down in a heap of streamers and Christmas decorations. Pain stabbed the back of his head as it smacked against the carpet and a piece of the ladder landed against his knee.

Just as he landed, the front door opened and a man walked in. “You really shouldn't leave your door un- Nagisa, are you alright?” 

Rei ran to Nagisa’s side and pulled the remains of the broken ladder off of him before pulling the boy up. His hair was messy and red streamers still clung to his shoulder.  
“Nagisa! What were you doing?”  
“I was just standing on the top of the ladder-”  
“The very top?”  
“Yeah, so wha-”  
“Nagisa! Have you not read anything on basic ladder safety? The top of the ladder isn’t strong enough to hold any amount of wait! It even says right on the step.” Rei interrupted, holding his pointer finger up like a lecturing teacher.  
“Wah, how was I supposed to see that!” Nagisa rubbed the side of his head. “Hey, why are you even here? I told you to stay away until the party started! Now look at you!”

Rei looked cold. His hair was coated with snow and his windswept jacket was wet. Nagisa noticed how beneath Rei’s glasses his long eyelashes were decorated with tiny snowflakes. His lips had even turned a pale shade of blue.  
“You look so cold!”  
“It was fine,” he said waving his hand. “Not a problem. Besides, I tried warning you. I texted you before I left and was trying to tell you I was here when I was outside.”  
“Why didn’t you just knock?”  
Rei opened his mouth to answer but then closed his mouth and looked away sheepishly, his already rosy cheeks taking on a darker shade of red. Nagisa laughed loudly.  
“Shut up. You just caused a ladder to collapse, so you shouldn’t be laughing,” Rei said sternly, but he smiled.  
“Hey, don’t be like that,” Nagisa pouted. “Anyway, you may as well take your jacket off.”

Rei did so as Nagisa sighed loudly. “So, how am I going to get this stuff up now with no ladder?” He stared at the mess on the floor for a moment and then looked back at Rei, then back at the mess on the floor. “Hey... I know exactly what I could do.”

“What?”  
“Well, I’d need your help...”  
“Nagisa,” Rei said with a warning tone. “What’s your idea?”  
“You’re tall, right? But not tall enough to reach the ceiling.”  
“So?”  
“My height could probably span the space between your head and the ceiling...”  
Rei stared for a second, unaware of what Nagisa was implying. Then the plan dawned on him and he opened his mouth in sheer horror. “Nagisa! No, I’m not letting you... stand on my shoulders!”  
“Why not!” Nagisa whined. “Come on... you came over here against my permission, and now you’re not even going to help?”  
“It’s too dangerous.”  
“You’re tall and strong! Can’t you easily hold me? Besides, you’ll only have to hold me for a few seconds while I put up the mistletoe.”  
Rei thought for a moment and then sighed. “Only a few seconds?”  
“Yeah! It’ll be easy.”  
“Fine. I’ll do it, but only to help for the party.”  
“Yay, Rei!” Nagisa shouted and clapped his hands. “So, put me on your shoulders.”

Rei bent down , baring his back before Nagisa. With a little bit too much gusto, Nagisa eagerly jumped onto Rei’s back and wrapped his arms around his neck, trying to pull himself up onto Rei’s shoulders. Rei let out a pained grunt and pushed Nagisa off. “Nagisa! Be gentle!”  
“Sorry!” This time Nagisa was more careful. Rei stood up slowly, allowing Nagisa to pull himself up. The end result was Nagisa sitting on Rei’s shoulders like a child, his legs hanging down over Rei’s chest. Nagisa was heavier than the average child though, and Rei was forced to bend his back. “Hurry up, Nagisa.”  
“I just started!” Nagisa protested. He stretched his arm up as far as it could go and raised his butt up slightly. “Ugh, I still can’t reach the ceiling!”  
“Why are your ceilings so freakishly high?”  
“Hey, don’t insult my home!”  
“Shut up and hurry.” Rei’s face was turning red from the effort and his knees wobbled.  
“Fine, sourpuss. Just push my feet up...”

Rei grabbed Nagisa’s feet and absently noticed his reindeer decorated socks before attempting to raise Nagisa’s into a position closer to standing. Nagisa pushed up on Rei’s shoulder, attempting to raise himself by getting leverage against Rei’s head. “Come on, try harder!”  
“I’m trying!” Rei grunted. They found themselves in an awkward position, Nagisa raised in a half crouch above Rei’s head, Rei’s arms pushing Nagisa up. Nagisa could now reach the ceiling and he quickly pinned up the Mistletoe while simultaneously trying to keep his balance. As he finally managed to attach the mistletoe to the ceiling, Rei was ready to collapse. “I got it!” Nagisa sang happily. Saying nothing, Rei dropped to one knee and straightened his back, throwing Nagisa back off him. Nagisa jumped off the floor and planted his hands on his hips.  
“Yay! We did it, Rei!” He looked down at the man still sitting on his knee. “Oh, get off the floor, it wasn’t so bad.” He reached down and grabbed Rei’s hand.  
“You didn’t do any of the work!” Rei replied as he grabbed Nagisa’s hand and pulled himself up.  
Nagisa didn’t respond and instead looked at their handiwork, a bough of mistletoe hanging above them. He then looked at Rei, still rumpled and breathing deeply. Rei’s hair was sticking up in random directions and was still damp from the snow. His skin was flushed and his full lips were just slightly chapped...

He was still holding’s Rei’s hand. His skin was freezing cold.

“Hey, Rei... mistletoe...”  
“Actually, that’s not mistletoe, it’s holly. That’s a common mistake. The berries are re-”  
“Oh, shut up.” Nagisa laughed quietly and reached up to grab the back of Rei’s head. He pulled Rei’s head down and touched his lips to Rei’s. They kissed beneath the bough of holly that Nagisa had mistaken for mistletoe, Nagisa on the tips of his toes and Rei bent down. Nagisa’s lips were warm and smooth, Rei noticed, and his skin was perfectly soft. Nagisa ran his hand quickly through Rei’s hair and moved away. Rei’s face was a deep red and he blathered quickly, “Nagisa, you... we... that was...”

Nagisa laughed and said, “come on, Rei... let’s make you some hot chocolate.”


End file.
